Courses Currently Taught

Pieter Sijpkes

Courses Currently Taught

ARCH 241Architectural Structures

ARCH 526Philosophy of Structures

ARCH 528History of Housing

Educational Background and Registration Data

1973B.Arch., McGill

1972B.Sc.(Arch), McGill

1966B. Arch. Technology (equiv.), Hogere Technische School, Den Bosch, Netherlands

Recent Honours and Awards

2009 Staff award, $2000, Steel Structures Educational Foundation

Recent Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

2015 Consultant and ice model fabricator to the winning team (out of 169 teams) of

NASA’s ‘3DPrinted Mars Habitat Challenge’.

2013-2014 Production of several prototypical ice models of Coca Cola bottles for the Coca Cola

Company’s celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary of the Coca Cola Bottle.

2006-Computer Controlled Ice Structure Rapid Prototyping Construction Project “The Architecture of Phase Change”, with Prof. Jorge Angeles, Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill

1996-McGill University Computer Numerical Controlled Machining CNC (in collaboration with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering)

Recent Publications

2011E. Barnett, J. Angeles, D. Pasini, and P. Sijpkes. "Surface Mapping Feedback for Robot-Assisted Rapid Prototyping (paper) (video)," IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Autom., Shanghai, China, pp. 3739-3744, May

2010E. Barnett, J. Angeles, D. Pasini, P. Sijpkes. "A Heuristic Algorithm for Slicing in the Rapid Freeze Prototyping of Sculptured Bodies," in Brain, Body, and Machine: Proceedings of an International Symposium on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the McGill University Centre for Intelligent Machines, J. Angeles, B. Boulet, J.J. Clark, J. Kovecses, K. Siddiqi (Eds.), Springer-Verlag: Berlin, pp. 149-162 (original publication available at

2010E. Barnett, J. Angeles, D. Pasini, P. Sijpkes. "Trajectory control for an innovative rapid freeze prototyping system," ASME 2010 Int. Des. Eng. Tech. Conf., Montreal, QC, Canada, 9 pages, August

2009A. Ossino,E. Barnett, J. Angeles, D. Pasini, and P. Sijpkes, "Path planning for robot-assisted rapid prototyping of ice structures", Trans. Can. Soc. Mech. Eng 33(4), pp. 689-700

2009E. Barnett, J. Angeles, D. Pasini, and P. Sijpkes. "Robot-assisted rapid prototyping for ice structures," IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Autom., Kobe, Japan, pp. 146-151, May

2009E. Barnett, J. Angeles, D. Pasini, and P. Sijpkes. "The Architecture of Phase Change at McGill," ARCC 2009 - Leadership in Architectural Research, between academia and the profession, San Antonio, TX, 6 pages, April

Current Academic, Professional and Public Service

Part-time lecturer (since retirement from full-time teaching on May 31, 2011)

Associate Professor, McGill School of Architecture

Curator of the Orson Wheeler Model Collection (ongoing since 1989)

Association Pro-Pointe Association: A non-profit group of residents of the Pointe St. Charles area in Montreal; consulting on quality-of-life issues for the residents of this very diverse area,zoning, acquired rights, conformity to master plans, nuisances, non-profit housing cooperatives, and the possible arrival of the Casino in the area

Regular contributor to CBC and other stations on urban issues

Consultant to NGO's such as "Fonds du patrimoine estrien inc," and Housing Co-operative groups in Pointe St. Charles

Consultant (with Prof. Saeed Mirza of Civil Engineering) to save the historic Howick Bowstring Bridge, Chateauguay, Quebec

Professional Memberships

Environmental Design Research Association